Jerime Anderson spells relief for Bruins

They seemed like insignificant numbers.

UCLA sophomore guard Jerime Anderson didn’t take a shot in a victory over Oregon State Saturday. He made three of four free throws for his points, had three assists, one rebound and turned the ball over once.

Yet, at the end of his line on the box score was the number that mattered most: 16 minutes of playing time.

“Getting 16 minutes from Jerime was huge,” Coach Ben Howland said. “We didn’t have that [in a loss to Oregon] Thursday.”

Freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt logged 40 minutes in the overtime loss to Oregon. Point guard Malcolm Lee spent his entire 37 minutes dealing with the Ducks’ pressure, which seemed to leave him too fatigued to sink a jumper that would have given the Bruins the lead in overtime.

“It gives us a deeper rotation and gives some guys some minutes off,” senior guard Michael Roll said of Anderson’s contribution against Oregon State.

Roll played 83 of the 85 minutes during the two games in Oregon. Lee logged 72 minutes.

“It’s another guard and another ball handler; that’s a relief for me,” Lee said.

Lee made three of four shots against Oregon State, when Anderson was there for relief. Lee was one of nine against Oregon.

Anderson had missed three consecutive games and played only nine minutes since Jan. 9 after suffering a hip flexor injury.

It was related to groin muscle problems that had slowed him earlier this season.

“It was definitely good to get out there and help the team again,” said Anderson.

Game on

Two weeks ago, after a 67-46 hammering by USC, the Bruins’ hopes of a Pacific 10 Conference title seemed “iffy,” Honeycutt said.

But three victories in four games have the Bruins tied with Arizona State for third place, one game behind California and Arizona, which are in a tie for first place.

“A couple weeks ago, we were hoping to be in the top five,” Honeycutt said. “But playing the way we have lately, we now know what we’re capable of doing.”

The Bruins play California on Saturday, but first face Stanford on Thursday. The Cardinal beat UCLA, 70-59, in Palo Alto on Jan. 9.

“Right now, we are only looking at Stanford,” Roll said.

Morgan returns

Howland said that center J’mison Morgan, out nearly three weeks with a torn quad, participated in practice Tuesday.

chris.foster@latimes .com

twitter.com/cfosterlatimes